Sweet Innocence
by Fluffed-Kitten
Summary: [AU] Before either of them know the truth about the Jyuunishi curse, Kyo and Yuki meet and play together, completely unaware of how they were expected to be treateing eachother. NOT Yuki x Kyo.


Innocence

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket. I don't plan on making any money off of this Fanfiction. Not that anyone would be willing to buy it, anyways 

**Author's Note**: When I started writing this, my intentions were for it to be a short one-shot based on Kyo and Yuki's relationship before they discovered the truth about each other. Turns out, I like writing about this a lot more than I thought I would. I was going to just keep this as a long one shot, but since this is my first time writing something that isn't strictly for humour purposes, I wanted a bit of feedback before I dove too deep into writing something the wrong way.

So, this is what I wound up with. It is important for you to review if you'd like to see more of it

By the way, this is **NOT a Yuki x Kyo fic**, and it won't be.

On with the show. Enjoy.

**Innocence**

**Chapter 01 – Rocky Introductions**

Kyo groaned and rolled over, twisting his small body in amidst the comfortable blankets. Even before opening his eyes, he knew that morning had come; he could tell the blinds had been thrown open with the brightness that shone on his face. He could hear his master's voice coming from his right as he drifted back into a wakened state.

"Kyo! Rise and shine!" his master's singsong tone pierced through the calm and quiet of the morning, but to Kyo, it wasn't a bad thing. It had only been about six months since he had come to stay with Kazuma, and he was ready to accept just about any sort of behaviour. He knew that whatever life threw at him while he was in his Shishou's care, it would still beat out how he was treated by his own parents.

Kyo was just about to let himself lose the clammy grip he had on his wakeful-ness and let himself doze off into a sound slumber again before he heard a soft thump on the ground beside him. Slowly lifting open a heavy eyelid, he managed to gather that Kazuma had dropped himself to the ground and was gazing intently in Kyo's own eyes. Kyo sighed and rolled over. It was Saturday, and his shishou never usually woke him up unless either A) There was school, or B) There was an emergency. Since Kyo didn't hear screams of agony or smell anything severely burnt, he decided it wasn't worth bothering himself over.

Then a thought dawned on him. What if shishou was testing him! What if he was being tested on how well he would follow orders, or how eager he really was to train? What if shishou was testing how obedient he really was as a son! Kyo's eyes burst open as realization rapidly dawned on him. He tossed quickly onto his other side to face Kazuma again, to find his shishou exactly where he had been last time; gazing intently at the younger boy.

"Shishou, I'm sorry!" Kyo exclaimed, bolting upright. "I should have heeded your orders with more haste! Please forgive me! I promise next time-" He cut himself off mid-sentence as he felt a relaxed hand on his head. He shifted his gaze from down in his lap, where he had been fiddling with the blankets, to meet Kazuma's eyes. To his surprise, his shishou bore a small grin.

"Kyo, there's no need to beg for forgiveness, I just wanted to see what your reaction would be if I came in her to try to wake you up." Kazuma lifted himself up off the floor. "Apparently, it takes more than a few sweet words to awake the sleeping beast. I might have to try harder next time," he dusted off his pants. "Now, if you hurry and get dressed Kyo, would you mind joining me in breakfast?" Kazuma gave him a last encouraging smile before strolling from the room.

If there was one thing the Kyo had to choose that he liked about Kazuma more than his parents, it was that by living with Kazuma, he was actually treated like a _person_. Six months ago, before his mother's death, the thought would have seemed pretty foreign to the young boy. Now that he lived with his shishou, he didn't have much to fear. Although Kyo was a little uneasy when trying to think of how far he could actually trust Kazuma, and although there had been no major confessions of love for each other yet, Kyo had already learned that with Kazuma, he didn't have to do much more than be himself, and he would be appreciated.

Kyo slowly dragged himself out of bed. He had to admit to himself, it wasn't much of a bed. When he had lived with his mother and father, he had had an actual bed. Now, his sleep quarters consisted mainly of a mat on the ground, a few assorted blankets, and a pillow (which was a bit flat from previous use, but it was great when you compared it to the floor). Although it wasn't in Kyo's nature to admit things like this, he could honestly say to himself that he'd prefer a bed like this any day if it meant being closer to shishou.

Once out of bed, he stood and peeled off his pajama's (yesterday's clothes), and plucked the first thing he saw out of his closet and put it on. He disregarded the open door leading from his room to the hallway; he had never really bothered to shut it much anyways, except when he was sleeping. The window was another matter; it was almost always closed during the day, with the blinds at least half shut, but at night, Kyo liked to open the window and let a steady breeze flow into the room. Sometimes, when he was left by himself, he liked to sit right by the windowsill and just watch the world go by outside. Another thing he wouldn't likely admit to anyone any time soon. He wasn't one to give away his comfort quirks.

After a hurried brushing of his teeth and a comb through his hair, Kyo found himself sitting in the kitchen, pouring himself cereal. Although it had been Kazuma who had invited him to come join breakfast, he knew better than to assume that his shishou would have actually attempted something edible to be consumed. This didn't bother Kyo that much. He'd actually prefer Frosted Flakes to eggs any day. Not only were they 'ggrrrrr-reat!' (or so said that tiger on TV), he got to have his daily dosage of milk, and sometimes more.

"So," Kazuma stated simply once Kyo had started to munch happily on his cereal. He knew that attempts in conversation were futile before master Kyo got his daily morning milk. "I was thinking that today, since you've been working so hard all week, we'd take a bit of a break."

Kyo stopped and stared mid-crunch. His master was suggesting that they took a day off of training? Since Kyo had starting living the shishou, he could remember very few occasions that had been honored by taking the day off. He wasn't sure whether to agree and smile or laugh at the joke, so he opted for a safe silence instead. Unfortunately, his facial features weren't quite sure what to make of the whole situation. Kazuma had to stifle a laugh upon seeing the puzzled expression which crossed the younger boy's face.

"Actually, I have some friend whom I'd like you to meet. They're relatives of yours, but I doubt you've ever seen them before. One of them is a boy around your age whom I was told might be interested in starting to learn marital arts," Kazuma brightened. Kyo, however, didn't really like the sound of it. Kazuma noticed the down-looking expression plastered across Kyo's face, because he asked "Don't you want to get out and meet new people?" Kyo grumbled in response.

Kazuma leaned forward across the table and put his hand on Kyo's head. "Kyo, I know it must be hard for you to think that there are people willing to accept you in this world, after the whole ordeal you went through after your mother passing away, but believe me, I think you should give these two boys a chance," Kyo turned his head upward and glared at the gray haired man sitting across from him. "…and if you don't like them, I promise, I won't force you to go near them again, okay?"

Kyo nodded solemnly. What his shishou said was true; giving people a try couldn't hurt him. He wasn't quite sure exactly what could make two people possibly think differently from the rest of the Sohma population, but Kazuma seemed intent on having him meet them, and decidedly, he would, if only to please his shishou. Kazuma gave him a pleased look.

"Good. I'm glad that you're becoming a bit more sociable, Kyo. Maybe one of these days, we'll finally have you thinking that not everyone's out to get you!" Kazuma rose and took the dishes into the kitchen, and Kyo heard the sound of running water. After being deep in thought for a minute or so, Kyo headed back for his room, and dug out some nicer clothes. Decidedly, if he already had a bad reputation going around in the Sohma family, the least he could do was make an attempt to have a pleasing first impression.

A half hour later found Kyo showered and with a new wardrobe. He had dressed so that he wasn't sloppy, but tried to look like he hadn't tried too hard either. Kyo knew that this could be the one chance to make his two newfound cousins think of him as an equal, and he didn't want to blow it, although it was against his nature to make attempts to actually look presentable. He'd already decided that no one needed to be informed of his attempts to impress. At his shishou's recommendation, he had also brought his martial arts training outfit; Kazuma had already hinted to him that he might want to see how far this new boy had gotten with his martial arts skills.

As Kyo and Kazuma left the house a few minutes later, curiosity beat out the shyness in Kyo, and he was suddenly plagued with questions about his 'new' relatives. "Shishou… I thought I wasn't wanted back in the main estate?"

Kazuma glanced down to the orange-haired boy. "Kyo, it's hard to explain, it's not that you weren't wanted or welcome, it's just… I might explain it to you another day," he concluded, even though he was already aware the Kyo knew exactly the reason why he wasn't wanted there; he was the cat. "But, it doesn't really matter right now, Shigure and Yuki don't live at the main house any more. They used to, but then they moved out on their own."

Kyo continued his questioning gaze. "Shigure and Yuki?"

"Yes, Shigure and Yuki Sohma. Two of the Sohma family, obviously. They're related to you, but I can't be sure exactly how. If I remember correctly, the three of you are actually quite close – first cousins! Anyways, they're who we're off to see today."

"Oh."

The two continued walking in silence until they reached a street which seemed to come to a dead end at some sort of forest. Although Kyo's instincts told him to stop, which he did, Kazuma continued to walk straight into the forest. Kyo was confused by this. Why would people live in a forest? Nevertheless, he put his trust in the actions of his shishou. As he jogged to catch up, he noticed that there was a path below his feet – it was faint, but he could still make it out, as if people had only recently started walking along it, but had done so many times. Finally, he had to ask the question.

"Shishou, why would Shigure and Yuki live in a forest?"

The question caught Kazuma off-guard, although he knew that he should have been expecting it. He turned around and met face-to-face with Yuki. "Let's just say they aren't really social people either – look, you've already got something in common!" Kyo could tell just by his shishou's tone of voice that he was hiding something, almost as if laced in with the comforting tones of his voice, there was worry. Kyo, of course, being like most other eight year olds, had the attention span of a gnat, and didn't really take much notice after the first few seconds had passed.

After about five more minutes of walking (and stumbling over tree roots), the pair of them found themselves outside of a cozy looking house. Not to say that it was 'cozy' in the way of being small; in fact, it was probably larger than Kazuma's house. It looked so snug and proper in the forest. Although there were two sliding doors already opened revealing a small living/dining area, Kyo decided that it wouldn't be proper to just walk in, and instead turned to go look around the house for the front door. He was halted in his steps, though, when he heard a voice come from the room.

"Good evening," the voice spoke. Kyo wheeled himself around to face the room with the open doors again. There was a man holding a newspaper standing up from where he had been previously seated around the low table. Well, Kyo assumed he was a man – it was definitely male, but the age was undeterminable by looks alone. He looked as though he might have just finished high school, but then again, he could be done college. Kyo heard Kazuma's voice from beside him.

"So, Shigure, the rumours were true. You didn't attend college after all," Kazuma's words confirmed Kyo's thoughts, that this was probably one of his cousins. Kyo saw Kazuma step forward and up onto the wood deck which surrounded almost the perimeter of the house. Kyo did the same, listening intently to his cousin's words as he spoke.

"Yes, most unfortunately, Aaya and Ha'ri have left me here to fend for myself" the man pulled a dramatic face, obviously upset and annoyed by his friends leaving him alone, but then gave a smile. "It's been a while, Kazuma. And the rumours were true about you, as well!" His eyes went from where they had been on Kazuma and instead rested on Kyo. "You've adopted _the cat_." It may have been Kyo's wild imagination, but it seemed as though, like everyone else, his cousin had spat those last two words with disgust, but the black haired man just gave a wide grin, as did Kazuma.

"I'm not quite sure if it's an official adoption yet… but yes, he _is_ living under my roof. I think he wants to meet Yuki." Upon hearing this, Kyo could have sworn that he saw Shigure's face drop and make a move to protest, but after catching Kazuma's eye, did nothing of the sort.

"But of course he's like to meet Yuki! They probably have a lot in common," Kyo decided that he liked Shigure; but then again, he thought that it might be hard not to. His facial features alone were so warm and welcoming, and in the whole two minutes Kyo had been listening him, he hadn't lost the smile once. "Do come in," Shigure's words interrupted his thoughts, and he absentmindedly stepped up into the small room with the low table.

Upon entry, the room itself was very traditional Japanese. Since the Sohma estate had been originally built a long time ago, Kyo had grown up used to the houses looking all traditional style on the outside, but upon entry, looking much more modern and up-to-date. Shigure's house wasn't the case; however, the most modern looking accessory to the room was a tiny TV placed in one corner. The rest of the room consisted of a low table, four cushions to sit on, and what looked like a few home accessories that had been thrown in randomly as an afterthought.

"Please don't mind the mess," Kyo heard Shigure's voice from the hall, as himself and Kazuma sat themselves down on one side of the table. "We've just moved in not too long ago; and quite frankly, I'm too lazy to clean up the mess." Kyo fought the laughter that he knew was bubbling up inside of him, unsure if it was okay to laugh or not, but let it out once he noticed that his shishou had. The small boy quickly decided that he liked this place, once again, because he would be allowed to be himself. Maybe later, if he ever got invited back. Right now, he was busy trying to make good first impressions.

When Shigure came back into the room with a tray of fruit juice (hastily mumbling something about burning the tea, which confused Kyo), he had another small boy following him. He looked to be about Kyo's age, with silver hair longer in the front, and shorter in the back, and deep purple eyes. Kyo vaguely wondered if maybe this boy was as nervous meeting him as he was to meet him, and decided this must be Yuki. Once again, suspicions were confirmed about a minute later when Shigure made the introduction.

After a few mumbled 'nice to meet you's, there was an eerie awkward silence which enveloped the room – something which startled Yuki, because usually where Shigure was concerned, silences in general didn't exist. Eventually, after what seemed like a year (but was probably only about two minutes), the most unexpected noise broke the silence – Laughter.

It started somewhere deep in Yuki's throat. He couldn't be quite sure what caused it, but he had a hunch that it might have been a cross between his theatrical older cousin making faces at the shishou across the table, and his newfound orange haired cousin slurping up the juice. Or was it possibly the look on Kazuma's face as he tried to ignore the two? Yuki wasn't quite sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way, he made eye contact, with the young boy across the table from him, and they both burst into laughter.

While Kazuma looked somewhat alarmed by the sudden outburst, Shigure just gave in and joined. It was hard not too. While he himself was concerned with over how the cat and rat would get along, he realized that apparently, although Kazuma had told Kyo about Shigure and Yuki being related, he seemed to have neglected to mention a tiny little detail – the two were cat and rat, and therefore, probably wouldn't co-operate in any way, shape or form.

When everyone had regained their senses (although, Kyo and Yuki were still emitting random bouts of giggles), Shigure spoke again. "Yuki, how about you take Kyo upstairs and show him your new room? I'm sure you two could have some fun up there; no sense hanging around here with a couple of old geysers like us." The silver haired boy heeded the suggestion and stood from the table, nodding his head in response. He turned and started towards the stairs, and Kyo followed.

Kyo quickly came to the decision that he liked his two new cousins. Well, the older one was hard not to like; he seemed very happy-go-lucky. The one about the same age as him was very quiet, yet seemed easy enough to like, as he hadn't done anything bad.

With the size of the house from the outside compared to the number of people living in it, Kyo had expected Yuki to be a spoiled child, with a huge room, and furniture that a prince would have. When he found himself sitting on the floor of Yuki's room a few minutes later, however, he was starting to go back on these thoughts.

As Yuki quietly sat on his bed absentmindedly gazing at Kyo, Kyo opted to go against making direct eye contact, and instead took this as an opportunity to get a look at his cousin's room. Yuki seemingly had a room the same size that he himself had, although it look like it was near finished with the furnishings; Yuki was sitting upon an actual bed (which looked pretty comfortable), and there was a desk and chair against one wall. The opposite wall had sliding doors, apparently a closet. It would look pretty plain and boring to most kids, but Yuki seemed content.

"So…" Yuki's quiet voice broke through the thick silence which had hung over them once again. The boy almost didn't seem comfortable with his own voice, and Kyo briefly wondered if maybe he wasn't very social at school, or if maybe he was even considered an outcast. Pfft. Kyo knew a thing or two about being an outcast.

Kyo breathed a deep sigh. Conversation – nay, social skills in general were something that didn't come naturally to him.

Back down in the living room, however, there was already a conversation in full force.

"So, you haven't told him?" Shigure was asking the older man. They were still seated at the table across from each other, and were now able to freely converse as the younger boys had left.

"Why should I?" Kazuma responded. He knew that Kyo had a right to his education, and if the question ever arose, he would tell him. But until then, he was quite content with letting sleeping beasts lie.

"Hmm…" Shigure pulled his hands into his yukata, and they reappeared at the low and loose neckline of it. He scratched his chin. "It just seemed like it would have been something which should obviously be pointed out to the both of them."

"'The both of them'… does that mean that Yuki doesn't know, either?" Kazuma was suddenly intrigued by exactly what Shigure had told the younger boy.

"Well…" Shigure cocked his head to the side, pondering about how much he could safely say. "Yuki knows about the whole Jyuunishi curse and whatnot, and he knows that he himself is the rat." He cast his eyes downward. "I don't believe he knows much about who Kyo is, though. Although he's met the rest of the Jyuunishi at the annual banquet, Kyo's never been there. I know he knows about the story involving the cat, but I don't know if he knows there's actually a cat in our family – let alone who it is."

Kazuma nodded. "I think Kyo knows that he himself is the cat, but he doesn't know why he was outcast from our family, so I'd assume that he doesn't know about whole Jyuunishi story – or, at least, if he does, he doesn't know that we have other family members with the same curse as him."

"I wouldn't necessarily regard it as the same curse; I think you and I both know that Kyo's been affected by it differently than the other twelve."

"Still, Akito rules over them all."

"True."

There was a short silence, before Kazuma continued the conversation. "So, what have you been up to lately? I thought you were planning on going off to college with your two friends?"

Shigure looked up thoughtfully. He oftentimes found himself turning over the same question in his head. Up until a few years ago, he had every intention on heading off to college with Hatori and Ayame – but that was before he had met his youngest cousin. He had first heard about Yuki from the older brother, who, in turn, had only known about having a younger brother a year after his birth. Shigure's chance meeting with Yuki happened about four years ago, when the young boy was stumbling out of the main house after one of his punishments with Akito. Shigure doubted that he would ever forget the tear-stained red face with large frightful lavender eyes which gazed into his own that day.

After calming the boy down, Shigure had vowed that, as soon as he could, he would save Yuki from his misery at the main house. Shigure had his healthy relations with the head of family to thank for the ability to leave the main Sohma estate – although, he doubted that he would have been allowed to if he ever mentioned taking Yuki with him.

But that was a story for another day. At the present time, Shigure was being jerked from his thoughts by a certain gray-haired martial arts master.

"… slept with your mother," Kazuma finished, and Shigure jumped about a foot into the air. Kazuma smiled. "Good, I got your attention. You were dozing off. So, why didn't you decide to finish your education?"

"… Let's just say there was a promise I wanted to keep." Shigure cast his eyes downwards. A promise between prisoners of the same curse. One shouldn't have to suffer alone.

End Chapter 01.

So… you like, you no like? Please review; I really need feedback on my developing writing styles. I already have the second chapter in the works, but I've still yet to decide whether to put it up or not, based on how negative or positive reviews end up being

**Author's Note (on the ages)**:

I haven't read so far in the manga (up to the ninth book… and even then, I've only had the chance to skim over each one once), so I'm not sure exactly when Shigure takes in Yuki, or how he meets him. I needed Yuki and Kyo to be at a naïve age, but I needed Shigure at the age where he would be off living by himself (with Yuki), so the compromise is that Yuki and Kyo are eight and Shigure is nineteen, because I know that there's eleven years difference. I don't know how old Kazuma is, although I assume he was relatively young when he took Kyo in (it seems to me that his gray hair is just a natural colour, and not a sign of aging.

Kyo and Yuki were originally going to be six, and the story would have made more sense if they were that age – as in, it would have been more likely that they didn't know about the curse at that age. But it wouldn't have worked with Shigure's age. Sorry.

Oh yes… that was a reference to Frosted Flakes by Kellogg's up there. I don't own that either! 

**Thank you!**


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